Broken
by Alice Faren
Summary: AU. Elle and Claire are partners in Pinehurst. They are sent to bring a girl to Pinehurst, a girl with abilities unknown to all. However, when they finally meet the girl, Claire changes her mind. Her decision leaves her in the position of having to fix both the girl-Alexandra-and Elle, as both are seemingly broken beyond repair. However, they just might fix themselves. ElleClaire


A single streetlamp illuminated the darkened street, barely allowing anyone to see the silhouettes of the fallen tree branches that had been victim to the harsh winds earlier that day. Two young women walked down the dampened pavement, the taller one cursing rapidly under her breath as she loathed the rain that poured down upon their heads. The smaller woman, with green eyes as opposed to the other's green eyes, rolled her eyes at her behavior and tried to think of what they were to do. All anyone would see if they happened to glance in their direction were two friends walking around at a late hour in the night. However, a closer look would reveal their matching gray uniforms and the symbol on their shoulders that stood for their company: Pinehurst.

"I don't understand how finding a sixteen year old is so hard," the taller woman said in an irritated tone. "Even if we do find her, I won't be able to do much." She gestured to her clothes, which were soaked from the raindrops that beat mercilessly against her body. The other woman stifled a laugh, amused by the other's annoyance and misfortune.

"Some people call this karma," the younger one replied.

"Shut up, Claire. What did I do that would make me deserve this, anyway?"

"Well you did kill people. And you're a bitch. Not to mention you always shock me when you see me, just for the hell of it. Maybe this is the universe getting back at you. Besides, I warned you to bring an umbrella, Elle. But, no. You always have too much hope that it will not rain, and then you get pissed when it does," Claire pointed out. She looked up at Elle and refrained from saying more.

The familiar look of loneliness and emptiness filled Elle's eyes, despite nothing being said that would cause it. Claire pretended not to notice, but ever since she had been partnered up with Elle, she had seen that look every once in a while. There were times when the other girl would just stop talking mid-sentence, and stare ahead at nothing in particular. She would cringe under anyone's touch, even her father's. At times, Claire wanted to try and comfort her, console her. However, even though it was harder to hide the feelings she had for the other agent, Claire knew that she had to keep their relationship strictly professional.

They continued on, the only noises coming from the rain and their soft footsteps. Elle reached out her arm to stop Claire from moving any further. The two stood in front of a large building that seemed abandoned. Windows were shattered, vines crawled up the sides, and Claire did not trust that the building itself was stable. It seemed as if it could have crumbled completely at any given moment in time. Claire had tried to stop Elle, to hold her back, but she walked into the building without any hesitation.

With no other choice, Claire started after her, jogging a bit to catch up. Inside of the building, Claire moved as close to Elle as she could without Elle knowing that she was afraid. That only would have earned her a bunch of snide comments that she did not want to hear at the time. There were too many cracks in the walls to count. A couch was flipped upside down and in a hallway; mold already took its toll on the piece of furniture. Claire jumped and gripped onto Elle's arm when a large, fat rat scurried past them.

"Are you scared, Cheerleader?" Elle asked with just the slightest hint of amusement laced in her voice. Claire playfully punched her gently in the arm, hoping that she would not take it offensively and start an unneeded brawl with her. Much to Claire's surprise, Elle allowed a small smile to creep onto her face before willing to vanish moments later.

At the sound of footsteps that clearly did not belong to them, the two agents froze. Elle quietly took out her gun while Claire followed her lead. Moments later, the saw a girl step out from a corner towards the end of the long corridor they were walking down. The girl made no other movement; she simply watched to see what the agents would do. No one spoke, and only the sound of water dripping was heard.

Suddenly, Claire took a step forward, trying to see what the girl would do. Instead of stepping back from Claire, the girl also stepped forward. The two agents could not see her face, but that did not matter to them. Claire watched as Elle slowly reached for her taser-gun. Their orders had been to bring the girl back alive, after all, and Elle was not going to disappoint her father.

"What's your name?" Claire called to the girl, surprising all three of them at the sound of her voice. It had been silent for so long that none of them had the thought of speaking aloud. Seconds turned into minutes as they waited for the girl to reply. She unexpectedly collapsed, falling to her knees and bringing her shoulders forward. Claire ran towards her despite Elle's protests, as the older woman believed it to be a trap.

"Are you going to kill me?" the girl whispered.

"No, no. We are only here because we know about your ability. All we want to do is help you. So, please, come with us," Claire said softly. She took in the girl's appearance. Brown hair cascaded down to the middle of her back, and her sad brown eyes almost pleaded with Claire to leave her alone.

"He's here. I can feel it. He's here; he'll kill all of us. You have to protect her. You have to protect her, please. Please don't let her die, don't let anyone hurt her. Protect her. Protect Alexandra," the girl begged.

Before anyone could say anything else, the girl let out an earsplitting scream and her body snapped back, folding in half in an unnatural way. A loud snap, followed by a series of cracking, sounded and blood spilled onto the tiled floors. A stream of blood flowed from the girl's mouth and her eyes glazed over with death. Elle called her Claire to get out of the building, but she was thrown against a wall before she was able to move.

A tall figure walked over to Claire, his index finger pointing at the side of her head. Just as he began moving his finger, Claire let out a shrill cry, and Elle did not think twice before pulling the trigger. The man grabbed his side and fled just as Elle shot out two more bullets, one lodging itself in the back of his shoulder and the other scraping by his ear. She let out a frustrated groan as she ran over to Claire, who had fallen to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Elle asked worriedly.

"Aw, you care about me," Claire said in a weak voice. "I'm fine, but she's not." The smaller blonde gestured over to where the girl's motionless body lay in a large pool of blood. "I guess we're in trouble that we let her die."

"Claire," Elle said in a panicked voice. Claire looked at her in question. "We have to go. Now. We need to check the perimeter of the building. Let's go!" she shouted. The two ran out of the building, though Claire was unable to figure out what was going on.

Once they were outside, Elle had them part was to go around the building. Still confused, Claire obeyed her orders and searched around the building, though there was nothing out of the ordinary. Then again, she was not exactly sure what she was supposed to be looking for. After a few minutes, she went to search for Elle, but was interrupted by violent, high-pitched screaming. She ran in the direction of the screams and eventually, Elle came into few. There was a small, petite body struggling against her, trying desperately to get away.

Claire hurried to the scene and Elle shouted at her to help hold the girl down. She pinned her to the ground, trying not to question Elle's reasoning. If she had done just that, she would get an earful from Elle about how her loyalties were beginning to cross over to the other side. That excuse was used a lot on Claire. It was how Elle got her to follow her orders so often, whether they made sense or not.

"Let me go!" the girl protested. She continued screaming and thrashing about for a few more minutes before going completely limp. Claire watched the girl in surprise and shock. The look in the girl's eyes was all too similar to the one that Elle got every once in a while. Her entire body had stilled and her mouth did not open; she made no attempt to move or speak.

"Finally, you are going to cooperate. What is your name?" Elle questioned. It was then that Claire realized the girl resembled the appearance of the girl that had been in the building. She looked identical to the dead girl—had she survived? There was nothing specifically about her power in her files. Not even Pinehurst knew what they were. They only knew that had an ability.

"How did you know she was out here…?" Claire asked Elle.

"The girl inside was not Alexandra. This is. She was pleading with you to protect Alexandra, so it made me wonder why she would ask us to protect someone we knew nothing about, especially not their whereabouts. The girl set herself up as a decoy in case something went wrong. She wanted to protect her sister."

"And now she wants us to, because she's…" Claire's voice trailed off as she looked back at Alexandra.

"Dead," Alexandra whispered. Her voice was broken, hollow. It carried nothing in it but emptiness, not even bitterness.

"Elle, I don't think that we should—"

"Our orders were to bring her in, Claire. You don't follow orders, you're not an agent. You're not agent, you're on your own," Elle interjected. Claire stood up and stepped away from the girl. She walked up to Elle so that she was face to face with her.

"I have worked with you for two months. It's not a lot of time, but it sure as hell is enough time to get to know at least a few things about you. We both know that you do not want to bring her in. Look at her, Elle. Just fucking look at her. That is _you_. _It's fucking you_. Right now, I want you to make the decision of whether or not we bring her in. You can either honor her twin sister's dying wish and protect her, or you can leave her victim to all of the terrible things you _know _Pinehurst is going to do to her. I suggest you choose what is best, not what is going to impress 'daddy.'"

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